Exo: Protein Bars made from Cricket Flour | Hacker News Reader

Exo: Protein Bars made from Cricket Flour

kickstarter.com

56 pointsbhuga59 comments

It's slightly misleading to call this "revolutionary" - another cricket bar project [1] was funded on Kickstarter last year and appears to be in full production [2].

[1] http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/466721916/the-worlds-fir...

[2] http://chapul.com/revolutionary-supplies/

Ahhhh, but those aren't protein bars!

(Welcome to marketing 101: segment segment segment)

I was wondering what the difference in ingredients was, so I put together this list from their sites

Chapul (Chaco Bar) ingredients:

  * Dates
  * Peanuts
  * Toasted Oats
  * Chocolate Chips
  * Walnuts
  * Agave Nectar
  * Cricket Flour
  * Gryllus
  * Flax Seed Meal
  * Salt

Exo (Cacao Nut) ingredients:

  * Raw Almonds
  * Dates
  * Coconut
  * Honey
  * Cricket Flour
  * Raw Cacao Nibs
  * Raw Cacao Powder
  * Vanilla Extract
  * Sea Salt

20g fat (5g saturated), 27g carbs (14g sugar), 10g protein.

Not that great for a "protein" bar.

I looked into this more and seems like that seems to be pretty common: http://protein-bars.findthebest.com/

Color me surprised. I'll stick with my whey powder which is 24g protein, 3g carb 1g Fat (http://www.optimumnutrition.com/products/100-Whey-Gold-Stand...)

Quest bars are the best I've found: http://www.questproteinbar.com/

Thanks for sharing that link!

"Taste first", they said. Protein, no matter what the source, unfortunately doesn't taste great, so I guess their workaround is to not use much protein...

> Protein, no matter what the source, unfortunately doesn't taste great

Um, meat? Unless you mean sweet protein in which case I agree.

Usually it's the fat in the meat that makes it taste good.

I mean protein by itself (without fats or sugars)

Even meat protein kinda sucks if you cook all the fat out of it.

What's the problem with protein/fat bars? Rancidity? There are fats (possibly not those found next to meat) which can be more shelf-stable; I wonder if you could use those fats, protein, and chemicals extracted from the tasty fat to have the right stability, taste, and nutrition profile. But that would be "evil food science" so people wouldn't think it was "healthy" I guess.

It exists - it's called Pemmican.

In my experience, at least on the low-sugar side, it tastes good once you get used to it. Eat a low-sugar diet for a few weeks and not only does it start to taste fine, but if you eat something with lots of added sugar, it tastes sickeningly sweet.

> Protein, no matter what the source, unfortunately doesn't taste great, so I guess their workaround is to not use much protein...

Different forms of protein have different tastes.

Egg white tastes fine (cooked).

Considering the ingredients, I wouldn't be surprised if a relatively large portion of the protein came from the almonds and chocolate. I never understood why people eat this crap when it's so easy to get protein from simple, natural sources.

>>I never understood why people eat this crap when it's so easy to get protein from simple, natural sources.

Yep. Eggs. Milk. Protein powder. Even cheese.

Protein bars are nice when you're on-the-go though.

> Eggs. Milk. Protein powder. Even cheese.

Am I wrong, or is "one of these things, not like the other"?

What is "protein powder" (made from)? To me it seems like the odd one out? (I'm not saying you shouldn't eat protein powder, but -- it is made from something, right -- most likely(?) powdered egg whites?)

> What is "protein powder" (made from)?

Usually whey or soy. I've seen hemp and other plant sources, too.

> 20g fat (5g saturated), 27g carbs (14g sugar), 10g protein.

I have a slice of raw (aquaculture) salmon in my fridge that's 67% water, 19.9 grams of protein and 14% fat (so roughly 14 grams fat, 20 grams protein). 14 grams fat, 20 grams protein (and sugar!) doesn't sound great, no.

And the fish tastes great with some soy and wasabi (or fried, or steamed or...)...

[edit: and most of that is not saturated fat]

It actually has a comparable nutritional profile to commercial waffles:

http://i.imgur.com/rg4DN02.jpg

(Substantially fewer overall calories for almost as much protein, is the punchline)

Whey is cheap and plentiful. If you don't like the idea of cows, soy and pea protein is cheap and plentiful.

Only problem with those waffles, is that if you eat 100% of your "daily"* protein needs, you eat too much sodium.

In case of "daily" needs, I think protein is a bit of an odd one out -- if you work out hard, you need a lot more* protein than the "average" don't ever move at all person. I'm not even sure where the US daily values are from/what they relate to. If they truly are average, I suspect they are wildly wrong for anyone that actually exercise their bodies in a healthy way.

It really grinds my gears when companies call bars with more sugar than protein as "protein bars".

"... born out of a frustration with other protein bars." That's a pretty low threshold for frustration, I'd say.

A lot of folks are posting bars with similar or better macro-nutrients, but in doing so are missing the point of these bars: their primary market is the paleo crowd. All the ingredients are natural and the list is short, basic, and acceptable to a paleo diet: almonds, dates, coconut, honey, crickets, cacao, vanilla, and sea salt. Compared with the ingredients list for a MetRX bar[1] posted elsewhere in this thread, it's an obvious choice for a follower of the "paleo lifestyle", even if the macros are comparable.

Even the Quest bars, which definitely have better macros than these bars, are pretty good for someone doing a ketogenic diet, but not acceptable for a paleo diet due to the use of peanuts, milk, chocolate, and sucralose.

[1] Metamyosyn® VPP Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Milk Protein Concentrate, Casein, Calcium Caseinate, Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Isolate, Egg White, L-Glutamine), Maltitol Syrup, Soy Protein Isolate, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa (processed with alkali), Maltitol, Glycerin, Fructose, Invert Sugar, Natural Flavor, Water, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Corn Syrup, Fructooligosaccharides, Polydextrose, Tapioca Starch, Vitamin and Mineral Blend (Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Lactate, Magnesium Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Ferric Orthophosphate, d-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Niacinamide, Zinc Oxide, Copper Gluconate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Cyanocobalamin), Unsweetened Chocolate, Cellulose, Enzyme Modified Soy Protein, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Pectin, Sugar, Sucralose, Soybean Oil, Maltodextrin, Carrageenan.

Your assertion is only correct in the near-term.

The ultimate market is the world's poor.

The rise of China demonstrates that when they get the chance, the world's poor switch to a diet rich in meat.

It also demonstrates that not starving to death is more important than fretting about how many grass seeds are in the foodstuff at hand.

There are other companies selling into the already hilarious "paleo" bar market. Paleo bars. Paleo bars. Surely I can't be only one who finds that odd. Paleo bars.

Because it has no firm unifying scientific principle, but instead relies on a collection of anthropological and archaeological observations taken out of context, coupled with a vague dislike for modernity, the paleo movement is busily splintering into dozens of mutually little hostile paleo-er-than-thou factions.

Everything in a paleo bar, whatever it's made of, includes Scary Chemical Names. Many of them have been (gasp!) processed!

I prefer DIY protein bars with whey powder and ingredients from nutsonline.com.

See 1st recipe: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/diy-protein-bars-healthy-bar...

That sounds good. Can I get your sources for the ingriedients? Also do they need to be stored frozen?

Awesome. People (and animals) have been eating insects in healthy doses for far longer than soy or whey, so I'm more comfortable eating this than the standard protein sources. I hope this takes off.

I just hope they develop healthier versions, particularly without so much sugar.

This is gross. I'm a vegetarian, so I'm biased, but am I the only one that thinks moving from animal sourced protein to slow roasted crickets sounds obscene?

You're probably not the only one, but I suspect that this is driven by culture more than anything else. (Of course, this doesn't make you feelings any less valid.) Crickets are likely to be less conscious and 'sentient' than animals such as cattle, and so I think this is a very good step from an ethical point of view.

If the crickets are "slow roasted" alive, that is cruel (and alarming) although I certainly hope and would think this isn't the case.

Anyone have any clarification?

I don't know how they make them, but keep in mind crickets can't feel pain, and are cold blooded (so can't really feel temperature either).

They can't feel pain? You have a citation for that claim?

> You have a citation for that claim?

You can use google just as well as I can. Search for "insect feel pain".

They don't have the necessary nerves to carry pain signals.

As an example, if you cut off part of the leg of an ant it keeps walking like normal, and doesn't show any indication that it felt anything. (They used this with a cool experiment that showed ants count steps when navigating - the shorter legs meant they walked a shorter distance, but kept the same number of steps.)

I did research this topic and recent studies show insects DO feel pain, and unlike you I have a citation to back it up: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867403...

No, this shows the larva are able to sense heat, not pain.

Read the actual paper, not the title.

This doesn't stack up too good against a Met-Rx ProteinPlus bar

Serving size 85g Total fat 10g (saturated 8g) Carbs 33g (sugars 3g) Protein 32g

http://www.metrx.com/protein-bars/protein-plus-creamy-cookie...

However I think the idea is amazing. It's early days for this stuff I'm sure but it has potential. There needs to be tests for absorption of protein etc

I like this concept.

"Introduce to the west" claims aside (see http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/466721916/the-worlds-fir...), I'm generally a supporter of being able to feed the world's population in worst case scenarios.

My biggest issue is that it looks pretty high in saturated fat for something I'd treat as a snack.

20g fat (5g saturated), 27g carbs (14g sugar), 10g protein - this is merely a trendy candybar

This isn't all that different from eating chocolate ants or crickets. My pet tarantulas absolutely love eating crickets, and anyone who is into keeping such pets knows of very high nutritional value of crickets.

"a three star Michelin chef who was Head of R&D at The Fat Duck Restaurant in England"

They must be referring to Heston right? I'm pretty sure he can make anything taste good

Not one picture of a cricket anywhere. Good idea.

Almonds and whey protein might be a better choice than the crickebar.

The ingredient list looks like Larabar + cricket powder.

Im not quite sure what to say to this.

How about: Oh, hells no.

I get it: it's an experimental product that may or may not be actually healthier and more nutrient-packed than conventional foods. It might even help alleviate some of my health issues.

I can't look past the whole "insect" thing. Maybe a few generations down the line, say, my grandkids kids (theoretical grandkids) may think nothing of it. But there's too much cultural inculcation for me to ever be able to contemplate eating or to actually eat something made from crickets.

Unless it was the zombie apocalypse and there wasn't anything else. Maybe then. But fortunately, that's all fantasy.

Have you considered the possibility that you might be unusually (relative to the rest of the globe) quite squeamish? What makes cricket flour any worse than raw fish or a nice, runny, sunny-side-up egg? Or more directly: do you eat commercially-prepared peanut butter?

You can't be serious? Besides the obvious physical differences, there are biological differences as well. An egg is not a slow roasted chicken.

Squeamish? I'm pretty sure I'm not.

I grew up on a cattle ranch and regularly poked cow stomachs with a stick behind our local cattle processor. As a kid, I had to go out at 4am and 30 degrees F with my grandfather to deliver a breech birth calf (didn't end well).

I'm not afraid of most bugs (spiders a bit, tarantulas a lot, crickets not even a smidge) but I've never had any desire to eat them.

It's cultural: Bugs are not people food.

Cochineal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal) is a fairly commonly used food additive made from ground bugs. I'm sure there are a number of others that you consume, too.

Your aversion to insects is highly cultural. Plenty of cultures, especially in Asia and Africa, treat insects as common foods and even delicacies.

You don't have a problem eating insects if you eat any sort of processed grains. The USDA (or equivalent agency) has distinctly non-zero limits for insect parts and rodent feces in cereal, because it's impossible to economically keep all insects and rodents out of grains.

I understand that, but by making a Kickstarter in English, they are targeting exactly my culture, which isn't keen on eating insects. And yes, everyone knows they slip into our food supply and there's a non-zero chance that we've all eaten them unintentionally, but that doesn't logically mean I'm going to think, "well, I may as well just start going whole hog now!"

This is a novelty and will never make it big in our market because the "ick factor" is just too high (for our cultural norms).

We have to start somewhere, right?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com